Disclaimer: I don't plan to be posting everyday like this for the whole six months, but there is SO MUCH here that I'll probably have a lot to talk about for a while!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
1:23pm
Well, I just went to the internet spot to post my blog entry from last night and found that there was too much going on there to concentrated on a blog entry for today. So I came back to my room to write.
I am lost for words to describe how incredible this place is. Out my window, I can hear the rushing of all the little creeks and the wind in the trees. I hear the birds singing and the bees buzzing. I’ve seen all sorts of life – pollinators of every variety including too many butterflies to count, frogs (as well as some tadpoles in the pond!), and even a small, spotted lizard! Maybe I’ve just never lived in the wilderness before, but it really seems like this place is a Garden of Eden.
I slept like a rock last night and woke up fairly early this morning. I didn’t used to be an early riser, but getting up more or less with the sun is much more natural here. Between going to bed early to save on lighting energy and the gentle early greetings of the sun and the birds, I found I was ready to be awake by 7am.
After breakfast – eggs from the neighbors and spinach from the garden, mmm! – Patricia took me on a tour of the gardens. She describes them as a “constant evolution.” The gardens are vibrant, filled with fruit and nut trees (including THE largest, healthiest, most vigorous elder I’ve ever seen!), an herb spiral (as well as medicinal and culinary herbs scattered throughout), some really cool perennial vegetables that I’ve only ever read about in Perennial Vegetables like air potato and hardy kiwi, volunteer spring bulbs like daffodils and day lily (from before Earthaven owned the property), blueberry bushes, all varieties of seasonal annuals – spring greens, broccoli, radishes, turnips, peas... I can’t even remember all of it!
One challenge in this area is that monocropping in the 30’s and 40’s destroyed most of the natural topsoil. A great deal of the soil here is solid red clay. However, as Patricia gestured to the lush forest of 100-foot trees and all varieties of plant matter, she told me, “This was all corn fields sixty, seventy years ago, but look what the Great Mother can do with a few seeds and solid bedrock.” The idea now is that with good, sound permaculture techniques, we can recreate a layer of topsoil. Then we, too, can make lush garden where there was once nothing but clay.
On the other hand, one of the beauties of this area is that it has been described to me as a “temperate rainforest.” One of the other people living at Medicine Wheel, a fellow work-exchanger named Kane, told me that here is more biodiversity here than almost any other place on earth, apart from the Amazon. When I landed in Asheville it was hot, but once we drove up into the mountains, it got much more mild. Unlike the mountains in Peru (where there was very little air, much less air with water in it), it is fairly humid in these mountains. Luckily, I’m told it doesn’t usually get over 90 degrees where we are and the humidity doesn’t get too overwhelming. The forest, they say, keeps it fairly constant at a “medium” humidity.
I haven’t gotten the official tour yet, but Patricia showed me around a little. There is a swimming hole and a sauna not far from the house. I dipped my feet in the water, but it will have to get a LOT hotter before I’ll swim in it because it is ICY cold! She’s also introduced me to some of the local flora and fauna. Still digesting all of it, but it’s beautiful and interesting.
I cut some garlic scapes and mixed them with rice for lunch. Yum! I ended up with a lot more than I could eat, so I shared with a bunch of other people. Apparently, that happens a lot in the community house. Imagine that! Technically, we are “on our own” for breakfast and lunch, but it is much more efficient to find someone to make lunch with. One person to cook, one person to clean… and a few people to free load. J
I’m still learning names and faces, but I think I at least recognize all my housemates. There are Patricia and Lyndon, who own and run the house, and then people renting and work exchanging (still working out who is doing what, where they are from, how long they’ve been here, how long they are staying, etc.). Let’s see, there are:
- Ivy and Michael, and their daughter Ayden, a small family getting ready to move to another habitation in Earthaven.
- Kane, who has been a really big help by giving me advice and letting me know how things work in the house.
- Joe, who I haven’t seen much but is apparently working on a bicycle-powered laundry machine, which I can totally get behind. He also was playing guitar last night, and I am thrilled that there is going to be regular live music here!
- Steven, who I take to be the resident intellectual and who shared a taste of raw lamb heart with me this morning (the sea salt and raw butter made it fairly palatable, but I don’t think it will become a regular part of my diet).
- Bruce, who I haven’t really gotten to know yet.
- Terry, aka “the mythical Terry” because, although he technically lives at MW, he works in Asheville so much that no one ever sees him.
and
- Chynna, who is supposed to be arriving today.
I think that’s everyone, at least for right now.
Well, I better get going. Lots more to see and do!
9:23pm
Chynna didn't end up showing up today. I’m kinda disappointed, because Patricia said I would love her and the rest of the house is all guys. It would be nice to have another female to relate to. Caitlin, who I hope will be my friend, as she seems pretty cool, doesn’t live at Medicine Wheel, but she seems to visit fairly frequently.
Other than that, I helped Patricia plant some tomatoes and lettuce today, which involved whacking down a TON of comfrey with the machete (a VERY fun tool...), sifting and amending some soil, and digging a bunch of holes with a bent trowel. It was SO GOOD to get my hands back in the dirt! Also, Patricia seems like she is going to be an awesome friend and mentor.
Well, I think that’s all for me for tonight.
peace
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